With all the security breaches in the past year, many shoppers are concerned about using their credit or debit cards. But carrying large amounts of cash has its own risks. A survey by Bankrate.com in November found more than a third of American shoppers planned to use debit cards for Black Friday purchases. Many of those cards are tied to checking and credit accounts, and hold a wealth of personal information if hackers and thieves get their hands on them.

Bargain hunters were out awfully early Friday morning getting a jump start on their holiday wish-lists. The National Retail Federation says 140 million shoppers will search for the best deals this weekend.

While many will hit the malls shopping Friday, there’s a group in St. Paul spending it at church. Those looking to avoid long lines and shopper meltdowns flipped the Black Friday script and held a service at Unity Church-Unitarian.

The Target store in Roseville opens at 6 p.m. Thursday and shoppers were lined up ready to go. While there are a lot of stores opening early this Thanksgiving, there was one stop we found that had people lining up for days.

CBS Radio Minneapolis and Mall of America are inviting shoppers to ‘ride for a cause’ this Thanksgiving holiday. Families are invited to Nickelodeon Universe, located in the center of the mall, to enjoy unlimited rides from 6 p.m. until midnight for a $10 donation.

On Tuesday, Best Buy announced it is joining other stores in opening even earlier on Thanksgiving Day. The retailer announced this year stores will open at 5 p.m. This follows Target’s Monday announcement that it will open Thanksgiving Day at 6 p.m.

This year the Black Friday stampede will start earlier than ever. Best Buy , Toys “R” US and JCPenney have all announced they will open at 5 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. Target is joining Sears, Kohl’s and Macy’s with 6 p.m. Thanksgiving openings. Last year those four stores opened at 8 p.m.

For Minnesota’s 500,000 firearms deer hunters the Friday before opening day is much like the day after Thanksgiving. The day has become such a popular shopping day for hunters that one major sporting goods retailer trademarked the name, “Orange Friday.”